FOR more than 40 years it has both baffled and intrigued.

The cold-blooded gangland slaying of Angus Sibbett has never been clear-cut.

Dennis Stafford and Michael Luvaglio were found guilty of the killing of Sibbett, who was found dead in the back seat of his Jaguar under Pesspool Bridge, South Hetton, County Durham, with three gunshot wounds in January 1967.

But since then, books have been written questioning their guilt, TV shows have been broadcast, questions asked in the Commons, and appeal after appeal has been launched by Stafford and Luvaglio.

So were they set up, or were they responsible for the notorious shooting said to have inspired the Michael Caine movie Get Carter?

Saturday marked the 46th anniversary of Sibbett’s murder.

His body, slumped in a bloodstained suit and tie, was found by a passing miner in the early hours of the morning. Within 18 hours of the murder, the wealthy businessman’s colleagues, Luvaglio and Stafford, were arrested and within two months they were had been found guilty by a jury in Newcastle.

Sibbett was a cash collector for the fruit machine business of Stafford’s then-friend Vince Landa, who died last year. It was said at the time he was murdered because he was suspected of skimming money off the takings.

Luvaglio and Stafford were convicted of the shooting of Mr Sibbett later that year and spent more than a decade inside.

Luvaglio previously claimed it was London gangsters, the Kray brothers, who had been behind the murder because they wanted a piece of his £4m fruit machine empire before he floated the business on the stock exchange.

But today he said that London crime boss Charlie Richardson had taken the true killer’s identity to the grave with him. The 78-year-old – convicted of sadistic tortures at his South London scrapyard in 1967 – died of cancer last year.

But Luvaglio said: “Reggie Kray, when he was released from prison, said he knew the true identity of people who had committed murders but he wouldn’t tell them.

“It’s the same with Charlie Richardson. I’m told he knew who killed Angus but now we will never know. These people have taken the truth to their grave with them.”

Since his release from prison, Luvaglio has gathered 500 supporters who have stumped up a reward totalling more than £30,000 for any information that proves his innocence.

But he claims he has received threatening phone calls demanding that he give up his fight for justice. He said: “They ring saying that if I keep going then something is going to happen to me. There are people out there who don’t want the truth to come out.

“I think people believe I want compensation. The justice system won’t consider my conviction because they could owe me up to £10m.

“But I don’t want the cash, I will sign a written waiver and give it to charity. All I want is to clear my name.”

Within hours of discovering Sibbett’s body, police turned up at Stafford’s flat in Durham where he was living with his girlfriend, nightclub singer Selena Jones.

They arrested him and woke up Luvaglio, who was staying there.

The North East world was a different place at the time of the killing. Nightclubs were starting to take off, but the scene was being infiltrated by London gangsters.

Luvaglio, Stafford and Sibbett had all moved from London to Newcastle in the mid-60s to work for Luvaglio’s brother, Vince Landa.

Landa’s Sunderland-based company, Social Club Services, supplied gaming machines to more than 400 clubs throughout the North East.

One-armed bandit machines had been made legal in licensed clubs, and Landa moved his business to the North East to cash in on the huge number of workingmen’s clubs.

But by 1966, the Newcastle nightclub scene into which Landa had diversified was a violent one.

The Kray twins paid a visit, and soon after Landa’s Piccadilly nightclub was burnt down.

Page 2 - The new evidence that could change everything >>

The new evidence that could change everything

TODAY – just days after the 46th anniversary of a murder that lives on in Tyneside folklore – Michael Luvaglio claims he has new evidence that could quash his conviction.

The police case was Stafford and Luvaglio left Durham at 11.30pm the night before in an E-type Jaguar borrowed from Landa, and met Sibbett, who had left the Dolce Vita nightclub in Newcastle at 11.20pm, at West Moor Farm near South Hetton.

At the centre of the case against Luvaglio is the claim that a collision occurred between the two Jaguar cars. But the 75-year-old charity worker says crash experts have forensically analysed crime scene photos to conclude there was no crash at all.

Luvaglio said: "There were no fingerprints, no forensic evidence and no blood. Forty-seven miners passing by and said there was no damage on the car and now it seems there was no collision at all."

Now more than four years after he last launched an appeal, Luvaglio plans to submit a claim to the Criminal Case Review Commission in a bid to have his conviction considered by the Court of Appeal.

Luvaglio, who now lives in London, said: "Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning, there’s blood all over the sheets where I’ve been clawing at myself trying to get the cockroaches off my body.

"It’s scarred me and there’s nothing more I can do. I’ve tried counselling but it’s horrendous. I have nightmares two or three times a week and the hospital think it may have affected my heart.

"I don’t deserve to die as a legally convicted murderer. If you look at all the evidence we’ve got then it’s an absolute disgrace that nothing is being done about it. I’ve been fighting for the past 45 years and I won’t stop where there’s still life in me."

He added: "The last time the CCRC took a look at the case they said there was no fresh evidence but they should be searching for the truth. Is the justice system not suppose to be searching for the truth?

"This all happened because they wanted Stafford. He escaped from prison and made the police and justice system look ridiculous and this was payback time.

"Everyone just wants me to disappear and then they will be off the hook. But I won’t give up hope.

"Angus was a close friend of mine. He was a good person and I enjoyed his company. He was very lovely and I couldn’t say one bad word against him.

"People have said he was skimming profits off the business but Angus did the collections and we all shared the money and we all lived well.

"I’m angry that others who have suffered injustice over the years have had apologies but I have never had that. I think our justice system is one of the best in the world – but it makes me sad that they made such an error with me."

Murder inspired movie

SHROUDED in conspiracies, the murder of Angus Sibbett in 1967 sent shockwaves across Tyneside and sparked fears of a gangland culture in Newcastle.

It earned the nickname "the one-armed bandit murder" because of Dennis Stafford and Michael Luvaglio’s connection to the gaming industry, involving the supply of fruit machines to social clubs.

The case was one of the most notorious killings in the North East and the first gangland killing. At the time it raised fears that organised crime was gaining a foothold in the region, partly due to Luvaglio’s Italian surname.

The case inspired the novel Jack’s Return Home by Ted Lewis, which was adapted into the 1971 film Get Carter, with a scene in the opening featuring a newspaper headline "Gaming wars".

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